DGM::Innocent Revival : Volume One
by Lemurrs
Summary: His devotion dare not waver as they travel the European countryside. They are low on funds and weary, but Ekikei is committed to protecting her. After their parents' untimely passing, he took full responsibility. She's his life. MAIN CHARACTERS' KIDS! R
1. Night 1 Prologue: Premonitionous Wind

The idea for D.Gray-Man: Innocent Revival has been in my head since late December 2007, and I've put much planning into the entire storyline. I don't normally make layouts for chapters, but I have for this story. ;) Then it's gotta be good, right? I mean, damn, I'm already on the layout for Volume 6. That's about halfway through the series, I suppose, and there are about nine nights (chapters) per volume, so... This is gonna be long term. I'll update every week with a new chapter, so this is gonna go on well into summer. :3 Exciting, ne?

So here is the long-awaited first night of DGM:IR!! Enjoy!!

I disclaim Hoshino-sensei's fabulous characters and settings such as the Order, but the original characters belong to me.

_I dedicate this first night to my beloved twin and uke, Foxxi-chan. Forever will you hold a special place in my heart, for you are my life and my love_.

**Night 1**

Prologue: Premonitious Wind

xXxXxXx

_There is no greater fear than the fear of losing it all._

_If one found themself to be cornered, no possible means of escape even on the brink of being possible, they'd naturally be afraid. If one saw people disappear, if one saw love vanish before their very eyes, they'd naturally be afraid. If one was under immense pressure, so much so that not only their frame, but their mentality began to slowly creak and crumble, they'd naturally be afraid._

_Losing everything means losing who you are. It is important to hold onto those objects and comrades who you hold dearly with the greatest of strength. When you start to lose those around you, you unknowingly begin to lose sight of yourself. Slowly, as you come to realize this, the harsh truth will settle in, a massive weight on both your conscious and your unconscious mind. This weight is nothing but fear in its purest of forms._

_Only the strong last for so long._

_How long will you last... Ekikei...?_

Jolting straight up, eyes widened in utter panic, he panted. He reached a trembling hand up and placed it just under where the base of his low ponytail connected to the rest of his dark hair. Damp. Another nightmare had plagued him.

The fire which had been dancing only moments before he'd fallen asleep on watch was nothing but smoldering remains. The entire sky was a curtain of inspirational ink, dotted with pinpricks of gold and yellow, heaven's fireflies. His eyes, no longer as wide as before, drifted to the horizon. A good thirty or so yards off, his acute hearing gave him wind of some sort of stream, perhaps a lone brook.

The young man took to one knee, shifted his eyes to his left, where a slumbering girl lay on the opposite side of the glowing embers. He breathed a relieved sigh, possibly the first real breath he'd managed to get out since his newest dream, and prodded the scorched firewood with a cleaner stick. Managing to find a tiny flame underneath the wood, he aggravated it until it began to spread to the rest of the surviving pieces of tree and brush that made up their heat for the night. It steadily ate away at the matter, so he broke off part of his poker and tossed it into the light as a catalyst.

The youth rose from the green below him and smiled gently at the young lady, though his expression couldn't hide his troubled mind very well at all. The ressurected fire gave golden hues to her fair brown hair, long locks cast behind her and a few strands of chestnut coating her slim shoulders. The sleek look of her hair caught the light well. He never failed to be amazed at how she could have such a warm shade of hair when his own color was quite cold. As it caught the light, a faint translucent glaze came over his long bangs.

As he made his way to the water source, she didn't stir in the least. His steps weren't exactly light, as he was tired and battle-weary. He desperately wished they'd find a town somewhere soon so they could finally get a good bed for one single night. They were also running a bit low on funds, so he'd have to work some more of his infamous odd jobs to get some decent money.

He kneeled by the brook, lively with aquatic chitter-chatter, and leaned over to peer into the water. Through the light ripples, he could see the bags forming under his large blue-gray eyes. His right eye, normally concealed by a curtain of navy blue hair, could be clearly seen as he leaned forward ever so slightly, the tip of his bangs lightly touching the surface of the water. Only seventeen, yet he appeared to be eroded by his thirteen year struggle to protect his beloved sister. Though he appeared younger than his true age, his eyes were beginning to show signs of horrors that the young should never see.

After drinking some of the water he'd gathered with his left hand, he yawned, tired eyes closing for a minute as he sat down in a cross-legged fashion, and groaned lightly in mild annoyance. His entire body ached from the constant fighting. His shoulders had adorned a naturally rigid pose from his excessive stress.

Apathetic eyes aimed at nothing in particular, the teenager drew his twin swords from the holsters on his back. His void eyes looked over the blade in his right hand. Through he'd been wielding them for years, there was not a dent or knick to be found on the cloud gray steel. He thanked both God and his departed parents for this blessed gift each day he used these weapons, which was pretty much every single day. It was truly a miracle that the swords were in exquisite condition.

He sat on his knees as he bathed the cool metal, ridding it of the vile blood belonging to the threatening man he'd killed today. Despite his hatred for fighting in general, it was almost enough to break him when he had to take the life of another human. Animals were fine, but people were different.

Over time, he began convincing himself that he only killed to protect. Thinking of the words in his previous dream, he began to think that maybe that vision spawned from his recent casualties.

He couldn't lose Neva. Not now, not ever. She was all he had left. Mother, Father, and even his best friend had all vanished, either in one way or another. There was no way he'd back down, and judging from the raw determination that suddenly struck his eyes, he'd fight to the death if need be. No matter what sort of pain wrecked his body, he'd press onward.

He stood, a sword in both hands, and lifted them in synchronization. With the same united movement, he swung them down hard, the water flying off the cold steel and splatting onto the grass. He partially cringed. He hated that sound.

His vision was drawn to the horizon again as he turned around. The sun had just begun to color the sky, and Neva had awoken. She stood tall with her arms wide open, a symbol of all that was right and pure in this world, and smiled as a playful breeze toyed with her chestnut hair. As the wind stopped its joyful dance, her brunette blanket returned to her backside, ending just below the middle of her back. Fifteen years old and poor in health, but she was always a light in the shadows of this post-war world, and he loved her for that.

A tender smile graced his features, and he seemed to relax a bit. The plain sight of her was enough to make him calmer. She turned on her heel, waved grandly to him with an innocent smile on her perfect face. Eyes of identical color met, and Ekikei's heart gave a strong few thuds against his chest.

She was the reason why he was weak, the reason why he was strong. She was the reason for everything and anything concerning him. Without Neva, there was no Ekikei.

The truth sank in, but the pressure never came.

xXxXxXx

Please review!! It really helps me keep the updates regulated!! Constructive criticism accepted, flames will be used to set sick puppies on fire. You honestly wanna flame now? :P


	2. Night 2: Sign From God

Heh, I was dreading this chapter, can ya tell? So, it's really late, because I've been quite busy. Usually, updates will be around the Sunday-Monday-Tuesday area.

So why was I dreading this chapter? Simply put, it's a lot to write. Two pages front and back of layout, so basically, it's the longest chapter layout I've ever made. O.o;; Due to homework and my work-out schedule, I only get around an hour a day to use the computer (which can be uber-slow sometimes), so that's why this update is so late. Also, I had a bunch of big tests and other must-do things to attend to. My apologies.

Thanks a ton to my two lovely reviewers, and a smaller thanks to my reading-but-not-reviewing peoples. Reviews will be answered at the end of each chapter.

Pronunciations:

Ekikei - "Eh-kee-kay", from the Japanese _eki_ (fluid) and _kei_ (felicitation) (it was originally supposed to mean "strength", but apparently, there is no kanji for _kei_ meaning strength, so I guess my translator made an error...).

Neva - "Nay-vah", or "Nay-vuh", if you prefer the English version. Neva is an English name meaning "snow".

I disclaim Hoshino-sensei's fabulous characters and settings such as the Order, but the original characters belong to me.

_I dedicate this second night to Lonely Kitty, the first reviewer. -heart-_

**Night 2**

Sign From God

xXxXxXx

_It was night. Darkness spread over the sky and held tight to the horizon, giving what little light it had to the pinpricks of white in its hold. A crescent moon hung eerily still in the cold heavens._

_Below the black sheet of ice that was the sky lay hell.  
_

_Fire consumed the house, three small children gazing in utter horror at the devastating glow. A woman in her early twenties, perhaps, knelt behind them, strong arms around them in a motherly hold as she tried to avert their lines of sight. The tiny girl, perhaps only four years of age, looked up at their guardian. The child's eyes were devoid of a certain spark of life, yet tears still found shelter in their silvery-gray and spilt over one by one._

_"Auntie," the girl questioned, her tiny high-pitched voice barely above a mutter. "Why are you here?" She managed to get her point across with her limited vocabulary._

_The woman held the young brunette girl tighter, her own light brown hair becoming a makeshift pillow for the tired toddler. The girl rested her head on the ponytail which the elder of the two females always had cast over her right shoulder. With a shaky breath, she answered, a tear falling on the girl's tender head._

_"I'm here because you need me," the normally arrogant and sarcastic woman told her, a foreign kindness touching her tone. She subconsciously ran a few fingers through the younger's pixie-cut hair._

_The boy who sat in her other arm was maybe only a year old. He didn't cry, but slept through the silent chaos. The flames gave his short golden hair a bronze glow._

_The eldest of the children was a dark-haired boy, his silken hair cut straight just above his shoulders. The six-year-old's hands were curled into tiny fists at his sides as he sat on his hands and knees. Light blue-gray eyes not unlike the girl's own were focused on the inferno that was their home. Tears slid down his face, frozen in disbelief._

_"We should go, kids," came a sad, soft voice from behind him. He didn't bother to turn. He knew it was his aunt, and he knew she was trying to avoid further mental scarring. "I'll find us somewhere to stay, okay, guys? Then I'll tuck you in, and have a good and healthy breakfast ready in the morning." Her consoling tone shifted to a more mischievous one, more like her normal self. "Maybe we'll leave out the healthy part, ne?"_

_The lad couldn't tear his eyes away from the burning building, and now it seemed that his younger sister was having the same problem. The hairs on the backs of their necks prickled, and shivers ran through their small frames._

_A piercing feminine laugh echoed into the smoke-filled night air, a cackle of sorts. The sound of the fire crackling got louder and louder as the laughter grew as well, swelling and smothering the girl's vulnerable ears until..._

Her liquid blue-silver eyes snapped open as she quickly drew breath, a noisy fire dancing a good two or three meters from her face. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and her head spun, but she regained her composure in a minute's time. Neva sat up slowly, the world becoming more apparent to her now, and looked over to where her brother should have been sitting (knowing him, though, he'd be asleep by now).

He was somewhere in the distance, she noted as she squinted in his general direction. She smiled lightly and stood, legs a tad wobbly before a certain level of balance was attained, and faced the opposite horizon. A thin line of reddish-orange was painted along the border of the landscape. Slowly, the wind began to twist around her, and a beam of gold struck through the earthen surface. Neva flung her arms out as if welcoming the dawn, and an angelic smile rested on her sweet face. Locks of fair brown danced wildly behind her as a gust of wind passed her, excited as well.

The teenage girl turned on her heel and faced her elder brother, smiling her own joyful smile. He returned the favor.

Neva folded her hands behind the middle of her back and tilted forward slightly, the radiation of glee nearly visible on her pleasant form. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Nii-san!!" she called out "good morning" to her dear brother in Japanese, as learned from their father. Her voice was like a fairly high-pitched bell, clear and smooth, but with an edge that said "tomboy" and not "little miss prissy who needs to be protected all the time".

He grinned and jogged over, doing his best to seem untroubled to his beloved sister. The deep blue ponytail at the base of his neck bobbed with each stride, as did the curtain of hair over his left eye. His long hair whipped him gently just below his shoulder blades as he ran.

He stood in front of her, a vision of enthusiasm and justice. Hands on his hips and chest thrust forth, he gave a comical "Hiya, sis!!" and proceeded to grin like a carefree lad. Neva burst out laughing, clutching her sides for dear life. "Wh-what was that, Ekikei?! Hahahahaa!!" she said in between laughs. The older of the two blushed lightly and rubbed the bottom of his nose with his index finger (if you don't know what he's doing, it happens in a lot of anime where the guy gets embarrassed and does it in an "aw, shucks" kinda way, looking off to the side and smiling. I've seen Lavi do it, too).

He took pride in making her laugh, but he'd never admit it. He tried his best to act manly and brave around her, but he really was a true softie at heart. It's debatable whether acting heroically brave or comically brave took center stage most of the time. ("Stay back, I'll protect you." versus "Sheesh, c'mon!! I can take 'em! Stay back!!", really.)

"Heeheehee," she giggled, tears dotting the corners of her eyes. "Omae wa baka desu, Eki Nii-san. Honto ni!" ("You're an idiot, (big brother) Eki. Really!")

He pouted and folded his arms over his deflated chest. "Hmph. Sou da ne, hime?" ("Hmph. Is that so, princess?") She stuck her tongue out playfully, winking in a cute manner.

"I'm just joking, Nii-san," she admitted, chuckling softly. "So, we head off now, ne?"

-x-x-x-x-

After a good twenty minutes of walking across the rolling hills of Germany, the siblings came upon a quaint little village. Needless to say, they were extremely grateful to find a place with an inn, which hopefully included showers and soft beds. Ekikei took off in one direction and Neva went her own way, both with different goals. Eki was set on interrogating the (hopefully) kind people of the village, asking about the Black Order. Neva's job was to find an inn that would take them for as little money as possible. With their charm, they could get good results.

After a while, though, Ekikei seemed to tire of his task. Apparently, no one had any information on the Order. Of course, no one would lie about knowing of it; Ekikei's politeness and sincere smiles never failed. He had a naturally refreshing attitude, after all, and it was hard to resist that sort of mannerism.

With a look of defeat, he sighed and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his light blue pants, walking to the next house. His silvery-blue eyes were tired, without a spark of hope. He was beginning to doubt if they'd ever find a trace of the Order. Three things they needed to do: find the woman who bears Ekikei's name and their father's appearance, find shelter with the Black Order, and maybe, if his heart still beat in his chest, they'd be able to find a long-lost companion...

The sun was harsh, and sweat formed on his furrowed brow. He didn't look happy in the least. His button-up shirt was gray, true, so it didn't absorb as much heat as black, but the long sleeves felt tight around his arms. He could feel the perspiration come from under his skin as his pores opened up to breathe. "Atsui..." he groaned under his breath. Indeed, it was hot.

As he neared an alleyway on the way to his next target, the gleam from something shiny hit his uncovered eye. He blinked hard, then looked to the source.

His breath caught in his throat. The tail of a black jacket rounded the corner of the alleyway. Sunlight had caught on the silver trimming on the hem of the coat and thus momentarily stunned him. He shouted after the stranger and took chase, but upon rounding the corner himself, there was no one to be found.

He panted, tired and sweaty, and balled his hands into fists in frustration. He made some disgruntled noise, then turned on his heel to head off.

Ekikei then came face to face with his dear sister. Caught off guard, he jumped back with a slight yelp, hand on the hilt of one of his swords. Neva blinked a few times, confused. "Did I startle you?" She cocked her head to the side, arms folded behind her back. Lucky girl. Her attire was a white sort of sleeveless tunic with a charcoal colored short-sleeved shirt beneath it. A mostly white outfit would prove fortunate in this heat. She was barely sweating at all.

"N-no! Hardly!" he tried in vain to convince her, waving his hands in front of him as he tried to prove her wrong. "Well, uh, actually... You kinda did... Maybe..." A pink tint rose to his face as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Neva giggled. "Oh, really? Am I just that scary?" She attempted to make a frightening face at her brother, but he just scoffed and smirked as he walked up to her and ruffled her hair.

"Oh yeah, you're terrifying," he said, sarcasm lacing his mildly playful tone. She pouted lightly, then blinked a few times as she remembered why she came to him in the first place.

"Oh, that's right! I found us a place to stay!" she announced, practically beaming. He smiled and followed her to the inn she found, close to her as always, but his mind was elsewhere.

-x-x-x-x-

It hardly took any time to unpack, seeing as how their luggage was light to begin with. Despite the fatigue, Ekikei had work to do, and it was nearly noon. The siblings stared at one another as their stomachs demanded food, then laughed and headed downstairs.

True, it wasn't the finest of places to dine, but the tavern below the inn's main rooms was the cheapest place to get a decent meal. Ekikei sat opposite of his sister at a small round table, and even though she seemed less than at ease about the musky atmosphere, her brother failed to notice. This was extremely odd, him being the overprotective type and all.

"Eki?" she queried, staring straight at him. His eyes didn't lift from his hands, folded atop the table. His mind was rampant with thoughts. "Eki Nii-san?" she asked louder this time, stretching over the top of the table with an open palm to the side of her mouth.

This shook him from his reverie. "Huh?" he blinked, catching her gaze and holding it. He looked at her expectantly. She sighed and sat back down, folding her arms across her bosom. Just as she was about to speak, a kind young woman in a low-cut tavern dress came by to take their orders. Her smile stretched well across her youthful face, and the siblings gave polite smiles in return. They requested water and a simple meal of baked chicken and mashed potatoes, one plate for each body. The dark-haired lady nodded and went on her way, her short curls bobbing just above her shoulders with each step.

"Something on your mind?" Neva finally asked, a look of concern crossing her face. Ekikei was quiet for a moment as his line of sight fell once again to his hands, then sighed lightly.

"I saw an exorcist this morning," he told her, eyes on his overlapped thumbs.

The fair girl nearly bolted upright out of her seat, but caught herself and only gaped at his confession. "Honto desu ka?!" (in this case, "Are you serious?!")

He laid his arms across his chest and nodded, making a small noise of agreement. "Mm." He didn't once look up at her, and noting this, she went on. He must have really been in deep thought over this event.

"How did you know it was an exorcist?" she asked, honestly baffled. She blinked twice as she stared at him for an answer.

"She was wearing the uniform," he told her point blank, looking at her from under his brow with a look that clearly said "duh, even you should have known that". She flinched, a smile twitching onto her face as she laughed lightly.

"Ahaha, sou, sou..." ("Ahaha, right, right...") She couldn't help but fail to remember that, because A) she was only four years old when the Order fell, and B) she was exhausted from their pilgrimage. "Demo... Doushite?" ("But... Why?")

"Ara?" ("Huh?") he said in a sort of bored tone, head lifting slightly in acknowledgement.

"Why didn't you go after them?"

"I tried, but when I turned the corner, they were gone!" he said with emphasis on the last word, fully alert. He looked not only astounded, but troubled. "They just... vanished..." Light blue-gray eyes fell to the wooden tabletop once again.

The waitress returned with their drinks, and Neva poked one of her ice cubes around with her index finger. She seemed to be thinking about something.

"Don't do that," chided her elder brother in his warning tone. "Did you wash your hands?" It was almost laughable at how serious he looked.

She stuck her tongue out at him, drawing it back to speak. "Of course."

He made a sarcastic noise in the back of his mouth, and to Neva, it sounded suspiciously like a "che". Ekikei looked off to the side with a sour look on his face, but it softened soon enough. "I can't believe I lost 'em."

Neva smiled apologetically at her older, yet shorter, brother. "It couldn't be helped, Nii-san."

"Hn. I suppose..."

-x-x-x-x-

Money had always been an issue for the two wanderers, and so, as Neva rested on a bed for the first time in a long time, Ekikei was hard at work.

Well, technically, the hard part was finding clients.

Ekikei was infamous for his many odd jobs. For the most part, he would help out families with deceased or bedridden men, either by chopping wood or carrying water, and sometimes he'd even clean and cook. Unfortunately, this particular village was full of strong, able-bodied men. He didn't bother visiting the houses that he'd questioned before about the Black Order; all of them had vital males in their households.

Luck had smiled upon him, for he found an elderly woman on the outskirts of the well-managed village. She asked him to cut down a tree for her and make it into some firewood for later on in the year, and he complied with a pleasant smile.

The teenage swordsman drew his twin blades and held them in front of him, eyes closed and face twisted into a look of complete concentration. He summoned the energy needed from within him and touched the two tips together. A high note, somewhat like a hum (not a siren, like his father's invocation), echoed throughout the wooded area. The old woman stared in awe from her porch, a shaking hand clutched to her chest.

"Are you an exorcist?" Lady luck was being quite nice today.

Ekikei froze. It wasn't fear, but pure shock that made his body tense and tingle. He turned around hesitantly, facing the woman. "Well, not officially, but I suppose I am," he said, still in a state of disbelief.

He snapped out it, quickly pressing the matter. "Do you know if there are any exorcists left?!" he asked in a half yell, eyes wide and desperate.

She looked sad for a moment before answering. "I've been a supporter for a long while, but... I'd thought all the exorcists had perished... I haven't seen that uniform in so long, I'm surprised I still recognize it. Ohoho..." she laughed gently, fingers lightly touching her mouth.

Ekikei was still hunched forward, intently waiting for an answer. If she had seen the exorcist from earlier...

"You're the second one today. Has the Order been revived...?"

Always quick to react, he dropped his swords and bolted up to her, grabbing her shoulders roughly. There was no way he was backing down now. "Where are they?! Where's the exorcist you saw?!" The look in his blue-gray eye was fierce, starving for answers.

The woman naturally tensed, and stared at the boy with the same expression he had claimed only moments before: shock.

"E-... Excuse me...?"

Startled at his own actions, Ekikei quickly released the elderly woman and backed up a few steps. "I-I'm sorry!" he said, bowing at the waist. As he rose, he had a tear in his left visible eye. "Please, ma'am, I just need to know where they went. My sister and I have been searching for survivors of the Order, but we've been unsuccessful thus far," he explained, voice starting to break as the tears came down his young face. He shut his eyes tightly as he went on. "I just... I just need to know where they went! We need to find them!!" he shouted through his tears, biting his lip as he finished. Silence ensued briefly.

He stopped crying, or at least the tears had stopped flowing. His eyes were sore and moist as he opened them, looking up with a surprised expression. His client had stepped off the porch and stood in front of him, and wiped the tears away with a chilly finger.

"She went to the southeast, boy," the wise woman smiled, a motherly look in her smoky blue eyes. "Go get your sister and head off. She was in no hurry."

It was almost unbelievable, that after thirteen years of knowing, twelve years of searching, and eleven years of taking lives, they had finally found a lead. He stood in front of her, body limp and mouth agape, then he flung his arms around her in a childlike hug. The boy was eternally grateful.

"Thank you so much!" he chirped, ecstatic. The grin on his face reached his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled like that. "But before I go..."

Ekikei turned on his heel and retrieved his swords, willing energy through them and causing them to activate at the touch of the tips. Running to the tree, he leaped and sliced the base horizontally. In his joy, the speed of his limbs seemed to quicken. He diced up the tree matter in only a few seconds.

The woman was amazed, but all the lad did was turn his head to her and smile politely, red orange hues of the sunset peaking out from the woods and casting polygons of light upon his figure. A serene wind glided across them, lifting his hair and causing it to flow gently behind him.

"Thank you, ma'am."

-x-x-x-x-

Ekikei flew up the stairs and burst through the door of the hotel room belong to him and his sister. He was about to proclaim his new discovery, but upon laying eyes on the lovely figure atop the bed, he stopped himself. It's been a very long time since they'd had anywhere decent to rest. He took the liberty of packing their things, letting her have a few more minutes of peace.

Slowly, her innocent eyes opened, and as she blinked away the film, she looked to her brother. He was just closing the clasps of their suitcases. "Eki Nii-san...? Doushitanda?" She inquired to what he was doing (or "what's wrong", depending on how you look at it), rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

He smiled at her, picking up both suitcases. "Good news, good news!" he beamed. She blinked at him, eyebrows raised. The elder sibling gave her a wry smile, obviously thinking that he was the greatest person alive at the moment.

"I got a lead," he said in a low voice, grinning. He loved playing the hero to her.

She was out of the bed in a nanosecond, and jumped at him. She clung to him, squealing. "Oh my god, YES! You're AMAZING, Eki Nii-san!! Sugoi!! Sugoi!!" ("Amazing!! Amazing!!")

He chuckled, pink in the face, and hugged her back. Albeit awkward with luggage in hand, the embrace was full of love indeed. "I guess I am, huh!"

-x-x-x-x-

They were smiling. For the first time in what seemed like forever, they were smiling.

Ekikei and Neva set foot in the yard of the woman whom Ekikei deemed a saint. She was on the porch in a rocking chair. She smiled kindly at the children. "Hello there, lass. I'm Lucine Gardner." She was much too charming and lovely to be beyond eighty.

Neva bowed slightly. "I'm Kanda Neva," the brunette smiled kindly, hands held together in front of her. "Are you the lady that my brother helped out earlier?" These two would tie for first in a sweet-face contest.

"Indeed, that I am," Lucine replied with equal kindness in her charismatic, hoarse voice. Then something came to her. "My, my... Young man, I never caught your name. Ohoho..."

It was at this moment that Ekikei had an epiphany. It was as if a small bell jingled once in his head, and his eyes widened as the sound faded away.

He stood tall (for him), eyes alight with strength and courage. A newfound hope spread through his body. This woman who had given him so much hope had made him realize something that he himself, in his blind devotion, had failed to realize.

He was proud.

He was proud to be the son of two generals, the son of admirable men who had taken down the greatest evil known to man. He was proud of the noble blood that ran through his veins, and most of all, he was proud to be an exorcist. He was proud that he could make a difference if danger appeared, if fear consumed the innocent, and if the people precious to him were threatened.

"It's Ekikei... Kanda Ekikei, son of General Kanda and General Walker."

Neva looked to her right, eyes intent on her normally bashful brother. "Ekikei..." she muttered, stunned at his confidence.

The elder of the females only smiled, a tear in her eye. "That you are, boy." The two turned to the woods and headed off, smiling, and all Lucine could do was wish them well at this point, but with Ekikei protecting Neva, there was little need. "Take good care of her." She knew he didn't hear her words, but did that really matter?

As the Kanda siblings walked out of the village where fortune shown, both of them had bounces in their steps. The sky was lit with a layer of sunset, like fire on the horizon.

xXxXxXx

Ohmygod, I actually did it. It took me three weeks but I did it. XD I hope it wasn't too boring. I hate the beginning of most books; they just don't interest me, ya know? But the next few chapters will build in excitement, trust me. And surprise, surprise! Cookies to all of you who guessed Allen was the mommy! (There's another story behind that, and no, Allen is not a hermaphrodite or a girl, and if you don't like yaoi, don't worry, I won't be having anything but subtle hints here, if anything at all.)

Review time!!

**Lonely Kitty** - OMG, wow!! Thank you so much for the praise!! Such kind words make me feel terrible for having you wait so long for this lovely installment of DGM:IR!! XD I'm overjoyed that you loved all the detail and hard work I put into the storyline!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!! -billions of hearts rain from sky-

**Foxxi-chan** - Ah, my dear twin-pon. X3 Thank you for reading my brainchild! I'm hooking you, it seems, and that's great. Now WRITE A DAMN STORY!! XD And by you-know-who, do you mean he-who-appears-in-night-three or he-who-appears-in-volume-six? :P Love you.

Thank you, my two loyal readers, and remember!! Reviewing makes the Wulfi happy!! SO DO IT!! XD


	3. Night 3: Chance Meeting

All I can say is that I'm sorry for the late updates. The end of the school year is slowly approaching, so I need to buckle down and study hard for the end-of-the-year testing periods we have here in Virginia. They're called SOLs (Standards of Learning). If you fail, you have to take the whole year's course over again. ;; Not fun. Not in the least. The only class I need to work on is Geometry...

Never fear, however, for updates will speed up in summer!! :)

And I did this chappie fast, so beware, it's not checked for errors of any sort. :x

_This awesome chapter is dedicated to my third reviewer, the lovely Ai Minamoto. -heart-_

**Night 3**

Chance Meeting

xXxXxXx

"Nii-san!! Look at the sky!!" came an ecstatic, joyful voice, clear as a bell.

"What is it?" was the bored reply.

Neva was running ahead, twirling and laughing as the cool wind played with her long, flowing chestnut hair. "Look at the moon!! The moon!!"

Ekikei glanced up at the midnight sky. Indeed, the moon was full, as radiant as ever. "Yeah, what about it?" He didn't sound nearly as enthralled as her. She only laughed and continued running ahead of his tired pace. He had no idea how she could have this much energy. True, they were on the tail of one of the few remaining exorcists of the world, but it was well passed bedtime for the bouncing girl.

Oh wait, she took a nap on a comfy bed back at the inn.

Ekikei didn't get any rest at all.

...Well THAT sucked.

Neva's slow-minded brother finally understood why she wanted him to look at the moon, and he growled under his breath. She wanted to distract him so she could run ahead of him. Obviously, she knew he wouldn't dare let her out of his sight, so she must have done this so he would hurry up.

Damn her and her petty games. They were cute, but he was about ready to collapse. At least she was focused on catching up to that anonymous exorcist.

Ekikei began to jog after her, seeing as how she had vanished over a hill as she continued to race him. Their suitcase thumped against his right leg as he ran. It wasn't very enjoyable.

A tired Ekikei was bad. Tired Ekikei meant pissed Ekikei, which meant going off on Neva, which meant Neva would cry.

It was a troublesome cycle that he had yet to find a solution for.

Oh wait, the solution was him getting some damn sleep.

...Well THAT sucked, too.

The white orb in the sea of ink above him was actually quite bright on this night. Only a few select clouds were passing through as the wind danced and ran with his dear sister. Paranoia settled in, and he began to run. He may not have looked too strong for a boy of seventeen, but he was rather good with handling weapons and other heavy things, such as wood and (you guessed it) suitcases. He put the case under his right arm and took off in the direction that his bubbly sister had fled.

He ran even faster when he heard her scream.

His heart was pounding heavily in his chest. He let her out of his sight for one second. She could be surrounded by all sorts of vile people or wild dogs, or worse... She could be hurt. A broken bone, a sprain, or even a scrape would hinder their performance. The rogues and beasts didn't bother him as much as actual injury because surprisingly, Neva fought well. Despite her beauty, she wasn't all looks and no talent. Neva was swift and flexible; she could flee from a hairy situation like the wind through the forest, if need be. Despite her skill, she would never desert her brother in battle, even though he'd be cross with her later.

Ekikei dropped the suitcase at the crest of the hill and drew his swords from the scabbards on his back. The impervished steel glinted in the ethereal moonlight as he leaped from the highest point of the hill and landed a few feet behind and to the left of his trembling sister. Neva already had her knife out and held horizontally in front of her in defense. He couldn't see her face, but she was indeed scared.

He never though he'd be fighting _him_, though...

-x-x-x-x-

"Hm..." mused a low, female voice from the darkness of an open room. There was no light, save for the moonlight streaming in through the single window. It highlighted the back of a couch in the center of the living room.

On the other side of that couch lay a male figure, limbs long and slightly out of porportion. One arm hung off the side of the couch, the other was pressed against the cushion to his right. His left leg was off to the side of the loveseat, and his right was bent, knee in the air. His head hung off of the armrest, golden eyes extremely large and irises small.

A constant expression of what looked like shocked eyes and a neutral mouth plagued him. His blonde hair which dangled off of the couch was half long and half short cut. On one side of his head, his straight, feathery locks were long and feminine, bangs included. On the other, it was short cut in a typical male fashion. The ends of his hair were dyed crimson, as if dipped in blood. He wore nothing but a pair of black short-shorts and a gray belly shirt. His eyes were coated with black eye shadow and thick mascara.

His skin was dark, grayish, and he had seven stigmata across his unveiled forehead.

The young woman in the dark corner sighed, flipping a coin with her thumb. "He's not back yet..." She sounded monotonous, yet mildy irritated. Her voice had a sort of sensuality in it that suggested that she was not only a tactiful being, but a sexual one too.

"Tiv."

The young man, perhaps only eightteen years of age, didn't even blink. He only continued to stare at the blank ceiling with enormous eyes. Perhaps he didn't hear her air of authority, or maybe he didn't hear her at all. If he wasn't breathing or blinking, he might as well be dead.

"Go find Ronen, Tiv."

No answer from the golden-eyed male.

"I've got a shiny thing for you if you find him," she toyed with him, sounding bored. Just after that statement, she threw the silver coin at him.

In a flash, all he did was shoot a lanky arm up at the piece of currency, and his long, sharp nails hit it dead on. It flew to the other side of the room, where it would stay.

The woman moaned, displeased that he wouldn't obey. "Fine, then," she said as she got up and stretched.

She stepped into the path of the moonlight and flipped her shoulder-length dark brown hair, lush curls dangling just slightly behind her collarbone. Her skin was tan, not gray, and she had no markings beneath her thick bangs. Bored, her half-lidded, sharp azure eyes stared forward at nothing in particular. "I guess I have to go get him."

She didn't bother to pull on a jacket as she left in her black and white checkerboard-patterned minidress. "I'll beat you when I get back."

-x-x-x-x-

"There's n-no way..." stuttered a baffled Ekikei, swords limp at his sides. He didn't even look down at the carcass of the defeated wild dog, severed completely in half. His gazed stayed focused on the single emerald eye of the young man before him. Neva wouldn't dare lower her weapon. Apparently, she witnessed the death of the attacking creature, and was shocked by the possible means the man might have used.

It looked as if the mutt was cut deeply by tiny razors, then sliced in half. There was deep crimson seeping out from around its lifeless form. The enigmatic man only stared deep into Neva's terrified blue gray orbs. The green of his visible eye was dull, as if no life could exist within it. His wild, messy hair was a gorgeous red with dark green patches, all originating from the center of the top of his head. The multi-colored mess went down to just passed his collarbone, but he kept it in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. The wild strands stuck out in no pattern whatsoever. Around his neck was a long orange scarf, the ends of which were tattered. Part of this garment hid the portion of his face just below his nose. On his upper torso was a tight, dark brown muscle shirt, revealing his stomach and well-toned abs, and he wore white pants with deep brown leather boots.

"Is it you...? Is it really...?" The fact that this could very well be a certain someone just couldn't seem to register in his mind. He dropped his blades, and they fell to the green earth with dual thumps. His sister, still immobile, couldn't even bring herself to look at her dear brother as he walked toward the taller male hesitantly, a disbelieving smile twitching onto his lips.

Slowly, he firmly placed his hands on the shoulders of the murderer. "What happened to you... Ronen..."

The grip around the steel shaft of his gleaming silver scythe tightened, his knuckles turning white from under the cloth of his fingerless gloves as he clenched both hands. As he held eye contact with Ekikei's relieved eyes, his own dark eye was apathetic, not a trace of emotion.

After a while, Ekikei backed off inch by inch as his smile faded. "Ronen...? Are you okay...? After the incident, Mother and Father told us that Auntie Lena took you far away. ...Where did you go? And why do you have an eye patch?"

"Ekikei..." muttered a nervous Neva under her breath, trembling as she saw how tight Ronen's grip was around his weapon, the large blade lightly coated with a thin layer of the animal's blood.

"I don't mean to sound mean or anything! It looks good on you!" the swordsman convinced him, waving his hands in front of him and smiling bashfully. Indeed, it was different from other patches. The piece of cloth that made for the patch over his right eye was a powder blue color and had various hole-like designs on it, not to mention a wavy fringe. Two of the strings of the eye patch crossed over the bridge of his nose and receeded behind his head, and the other one went opposite and over his right ear.

"E-ekikei..." stuttered his almost-frantic sister, gritting her teeth. Apparently, her warnings weren't getting to him.

"And your earing is cool! Odd, but cool!!" He was just digging a deeper grave. There was a dangling teardrop earing made of ivory on his left ear. It was a gift, so he treasured it.

"Ekikei...!" Her nerves were getting the best of her now, and she stamped her foot on the ground.

"And what an awesome scythe-!!"

"I do not know you."

The next thing Ekikei knew, the intricately-patterned blade of Ronen's weapon was at his throat. He didn't even see him move in time to back up. Ronen's voice was low, a medium tone, and mildly raspy from lack of use. Maybe he didn't talk too much with his other companions.

He pulled the weapon up roughly, hitting the swordsman in the chin and sending him flying backwards and crashing into the hill. A scrape was on his neck from the sheer force of the blow. He grunted in discomfort and as he slid down the grass of the earthen mound, Neva ran up to and knelt in front of him, weapon at the ready and a wary glare on her pretty face.

"I've never seen you before in my life. Please refrain from uttering my name ever again." His voice was naturally soft, and his tone was plain, emotionless.

He tapped the butt of his shaft on the ground once, and a whirlwind encircled him. The siblings had to close their eyes because of the raw power of his elemental control, and upon hearing nothing but the still air, they opened their eyes. He was gone.

-x-x-x-x-

A rough breeze swam passed Melanie as she walked out the door, and she looked over, dumbfounded to see Ronen standing like a statue beside her. "Eh? Ronnie?" Then she smiled grandly. "You actually came back this time! Find anything interesting for your beloved cousin?" she inquired with feigned sweetness, clearly talking about the autistic male inside the building.

When he was silent, her face became serious, and she dragged him inside. "Sleep, Ronnie," she commanded, stripping off her clothes in the moonlight. Ronen looked directly at the back of her head with a lifeless, half-lidded eye. When she was completely undressed, she didn't face him. That was enough of a sign that he should take his leave.

As he closed the door to his bedroom, the soft click of the door echoed down the hall and into the living room.

Melanie opened her hunter-like blue eyes and straddled the motionless blond male on the couch. He made no move to object. "You should learn to listen, Tivedsaj."

Ronen easily ignored the sound of Melanie's erotic noises as he lay in the bed. Even though it was just like every other night where she would take advantage of the mentally challenged young man, he could sleep this time. His mind was elsewhere.

xXxXxXx

I hadn't planned on bringing Tiv into the storyline _this_ early on! I know _someone's_ happy. ;P

Review time!!

**Lonely Kitty** - I'm glad you love my story so much!! My graditude cannot be expressed in words!! -huggleglomps- And yes, you're right, Allen's the mommy. XD I might start writing the side story to DGM:IR, where Allen gets pregnant after the fight with the Earl. It's pretty awesome. ;) Thanks again!!

**Foxxi-chan** - Are you happy, love? I actually managed to put Tivy in!! XD Yay!!

**Ai Minamoto** - I'm glad you like the Japanese in the text, but I'm might not be doing that as much from now on, seeing as how I only know a little Japanese. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!! In three weeks, I only had two days' time to work on it. That says a lot about my scheduling, ne?

Thanks for reading!! Please review!!

_And no, I don't support the rape of autistic peoples or any kind of rape at all. So don't flame me. I've been reading too much Koontz. _


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